Cisco Enterprise Routers vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch comparison

Cisco Enterprise Routers vs. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Enterprise Routers

Ranking in Routers

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

111

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

Ranking in Routers

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Ethernet Switches (16th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Routers is 15.0%, down from 21.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is 7.6%, up from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Routers Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Enterprise Routers	15.0%
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch	7.6%
Other	77.4%

Routers

Featured Reviews

reviewer2759889

Pre-Sales Technical Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Has supported robust enterprise deployments and management while pricing and market reach for advanced features need attention

I'm not sure what improvements could be made on the configuration scale since I'm not involved in complete configuration. Currently, it works effectively and they are incorporating AI adoption. Commercially and financially, the pricing is too high. Customers feel that Cisco Enterprise Routers will not offer the most competitive prices. If they can work on pricing, it would be easier for customers who are considering local products. In India, the government has implemented the Make in India initiative, and Cisco has established a manufacturing unit there. Regarding security products, they need to improve market reach, marketing, and training. While Cisco Enterprise Routers are user-friendly for network and wireless platforms, security product configuration and integration are considered complex compared to FortiGate, Check Point, Sophos, and Palo Alto. They have introduced solutions such as Cloud Defense Orchestrator and Firewall Manager (FMC), but the reach of Cisco security products in India needs improvement.

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Andriejus Artamonovas

IT Specialist at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees

Has supported deeper configuration through traffic mirroring and advanced VLAN setup

The main reason why MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is usually chosen is its raw performance to price ratio. In comparison to UniFi switches, MikroTik Cloud Router Switch can mirror all ports for traffic inspection for further traffic analysis, which UniFi cannot do. VLANs in MikroTik Cloud Router Switch are always useful. The way MikroTik implements VLAN-aware switching at the bridge level is hidden in the configuration. Making CRS work as a simple VLAN-aware switch requires deeper configuration, which is not intuitive. VLANs support individual interfaces not part of the bridge, allowing for double VLANing. You can create a VLAN interface in the interfaces context and also create a bridge interface, add physical ports, create VLANs for that bridge interface, and assign tagged and untagged ports and VLANs. Load balancing is one of the key components. The feature itself is quite efficient and works reliably on MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. The very basic setup is one of my favorites because they have their protocol where I can connect through the MAC address right on Layer 2, and I don't lose connectivity to the switch if I mess up with bridging or IP addressing.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The documentation is very good."

"It has provided us a more secure environment, especially the firewall. We've had multiple attempts of network intrusion which have been defeated due to the firewall rules in place."

"This product is easy to use."

"They are the best in failover switches. Their product line is excellent."

"Cisco Enterprise Routers are simple. Everything is in a proper manner. You don't need to upgrade or do other things on a daily basis. Cisco sends you the updates, and they are automatically updated. They are good."

"The main reason for using Cisco Routers is for the proprietor routing protocol that it has."

"I haven't assessed it in that way, they provided us with excellent service. We had very few issues."

"Stable and scalable routers."

More Cisco Enterprise Routers pros

"Regarding security and visibility in monitoring, it is very good, the GUI is very intuitive, and it has many more features than those from major vendors."

"It's a well-rounded solution for routing."

"The most valuable feature is that it has better throughput than its competitors."

"Some of the most valuable features are the simplicity, cost, usability, and power. As a package, it's extremely effective."

"MikroTik Cloud Router Switch stands out for its features, especially those available at that price point."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The beauty of MikroTik is that you have flexibility with the routing parts."

"A valuable aspect is its user-friendly configuration, making it accessible even for individuals with basic technical knowledge."

More MikroTik Cloud Router Switch pros

Cons

"The support for SD-WAN technology is not mature yet."

"The cost of this solution is a little bit high compared to others."

"Performance is one area that could be improved. The stability of the devices is great, but performance-wise we find that upgrading the memory or changing the device entirely is sometimes necessary."

"The pricing could be improved."

"The solution could be priced better."

"If Cisco can give you one license and allow you to use all the features, that would be the best thing. We are using it only as a voice gateway, and there are other options available, but we need to procure licenses to use those options. We can use it as a security device, or we can use it for connecting the LAN side, but for that, we need all those licenses. They can provide one license and allow you to use all the features. This is my recommendation for Cisco."

"Other products are coming to the market that are not as expensive, Cisco should reduce their price to be more comparable."

"The cost is prohibitive."

More Cisco Enterprise Routers cons

"Antispam and antivirus features should be included in the future."

"The area for improvement is security. MikroTik is mostly used by medium and small businesses, so the security is not as robust as Cisco."

"The RAM capacity offered by the product needs to be increased, as it is one area where the tool currently has some shortcomings."

"Aspects such as zero trust, security, and management interface could be improved, which would be useful."

"While some customers use MikroTik Cloud Router Switch as a firewall, it's not at an industry-level, though the basic features are adequate for many users who prefer it over purchasing other reputed firewall solutions."

"Simplifying the documentation would be a good idea."

"Most of the time, the MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is stable. If I were to rate the stability on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is the best, I would give it a 5."

"There has to be more development in the OS. It's complex for this switch as compared to others like Cisco. For NetGear and Cisco, it's easy to adapt the VLAN concept but it should be simplified for MikroTik."

More MikroTik Cloud Router Switch cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is costly for small businesses."

"Cisco routers are an expensive product."

"The pricing of Cisco routers is reasonable at times. But, here in my country, it is expensive because we get the product from outside our country, which involves a lot of processes...Only owing to the features it provides, it is reasonable."

"The solution is expensive."

"The licensing policy can sometimes be very complicated."

"This solution is expensive compared to competitors. There are additional costs if you want to have their support."

"It is quite costly for the same feature as compared to Huawei and Juniper. I rate the pricing an eight out of ten."

"I like the price of the solution."

More Cisco Enterprise Routers pricing and cost advice

"The price of the solution is fair and there is a one-time license purchase only."

"The price is competitive."

"The licensing for MikroTik is great. It's easy to enter, especially for small businesses. Their model is great."

"They came with the licensing when we purchased them."

"This product has a one-time cost and there is no licensing fee."

"I consider it to be a cost-effective solution."

"I believe the price of the tool is high, but it is okay for the services we get from it."

"MikroTik is really cheap compared to the competitors."

More MikroTik Cloud Router Switch pricing and cost advice

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884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Marketing Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Performing Arts

Comms Service Provider

13%

Educational Organization

12%

Marketing Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	46
Midsize Enterprise	24
Large Enterprise	44

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

How do Cisco Enterprise routers compare with Mikrotik routers and switches?

Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is ve...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Enterprise Routers?

It is expensive, but I am not the person purchasing the products; I just handle the configuration.

What needs improvement with Cisco Enterprise Routers?

We do not have any impact for Cisco exactly in protecting sensitive information. The only concern we have across all of the products is the price. Additionally, because it is not integrated with so...

What do you like most about MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?

The tool has impacted our company's network costs and productivity in a perfect manner and percentage-wise, I can say it is 120 percent.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?

The Python solution pricing is on the lower side.

What needs improvement with MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?

It can be difficult to identify key functions for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. I experience functionality limitations, particularly when trying to find specific features. It would be beneficial to...

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Product Reports

Cisco Enterprise Routers

Download Cisco Enterprise Routers product report

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

Download MikroTik Cloud Router Switch product report

Also Known As

No data available

MikroTik CRS Series

Overview

The high-performance Cisco Enterprise Routers are the market leader due to their breadth of advanced support for LAN/WAN services, redundancy, reliability, and performance.

Cisco

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is a new Smart Switch series. It combines the best features of a fully functional router and a Layer 3 switch, is powered by the familiar RouterOS. All the specific Switch configuration options are available in a special Switch menu, also ports can be removed from the switch configuration, and used for routing purposes.

MikroTik

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Boingo, Chartwell School, Children's Hospital of Orange County , Department of Justice, Explorer Pipeline, Linz AG, National Rugby League, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Telecom Italia, Transwestern

Information Not Available

Cisco Enterprise Routers vs. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch